The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

A Devil… So this is one of those so-called Apostles of Despair, huh?

Pochi is shaking, but she can still stand, so I guess the enemy isn’t too bad.

It’s got a hunched back, but its height should be about six meters. That’s about the same size as Tūs.

Doesn’t look like it has any reproductive organs. At a glance, one would think it’s just a pure black-colored Giant-type monster… but it’s got a ton of arcane energy – both inside its body and in the aura surrounding it.

And the horns on both sides of its head… they’re more intimidating than the ones Seki’teigyu has.

Come to think of it, Giorno once mentioned to me that he and Lylia working together could deal with Apostles of Despair just fine.

So this Devil’s strength could be on my level when I was a Holy Warrior Candidate… right?

Wait, are those two still Candidates? Was I the first one to become a full Holy Warrior?

Nah, that can’t be – it’s been a year since I last saw them. They could have gotten promoted any day during that time.

Isn’t Giorno supposed to run the show here? C’mon, go to him, Devil! I really wanna ask why it’s not going over there, in fact! Giorno this, Giorno that, Giorno, GIORNOOOOOO!!

Okay, in other words, I just wanna go home. I’m sure that’s what Pochi wants as well.

“You ReFuSE tO ANSwEr? Oh, wAIT… noW I rEMEMBEr. yoU MUSt BE Poer…”

Which Poer was it referring to?

Remembering things, stopping to think… its behavior really is quite human-like.

How’d it know my name, anyway?

…Whoops, Pochi’s shaking is getting worse. Guess this pressure is too much for her.

I got off Pochi’s back and stroked her cheeks a few times.

“I can handle things from here. You go to where Seki’teigyu is. If something happens, tell me through Telepathic Call.”

“But Master-“

“-It’s fine. You can always get stronger after we all get through this fight. Just think about going home alive.”

Pochi went silent for a moment, and then, with an apologetic look, hopped onto the Spell Circle and teleported away.

Although she hesitated, in the end she relented, which I’d assume was because she trusted that I’d get things done here.

“thaT’S IT.”

The Devil pointed at the Teleportation Spell Circle.

“hOW ArE You UsinG tHE Teleportation sPelL? onLy I ANd My King aRe The oneS MEANt to POsSEsS IT.”

“I’m not telling you anything.”

“and ThERe’s AnOthEr THInG i dON’T UnderstaND. There aRE fOUr Teleportation SPELl circLES, CoNnecTED iN EVERY COmBInATIon POsSiBLE. hoW DID You dO It?”

“Nope, not talking about that, either.”

“THE Teleportation sPELl I knOW coULd OnLy cONnECT BetwEen tWO spelL CIrCLes. BuT it LoOkEd AS tHoUGh YoU WeRe mOVIng tO aNd From aNY ciRclE YOU ChOSe. tHAT iS SupPOSeD To bE iMPoSsIbLE.”

It’s got a desire for knowledge, just like me – also human-like. And it can see the irregularity of my transference magic.

Originally, Teleportation is a spell that connects only two points. This is achieved by embedding both Spell Circles with a special formula that makes them related to each other, 

But what I did just now was put down four of those.

Back during the fight against the Blazing Dragon flock, I’ve incorporated the formula to ‘teleport randomly to nearby applicable Spell Circles,’ enabling the moving among four Teleportation Circles.

But this Devil must have seen me teleporting freely while riding on Pochi, and assumed that I was moving to Spell Circles of my choosing.

That’s a brilliant observation. And it would be right.

…And of course it would want to know how I did it.

“Oh… HMm… i SEe, i SeE…”

It was looking at where Pochi teleported to… so it must have figured things out by now, knowing that Pochi could teleport to any Circle she wants.

I’ve already explained it to Pochi before, which is why she knows how to operate it.

I never thought anyone from this era would find out about it, but I suppose I’ve been underestimating the Devilkin’s power of insight.

“So It’s tHE DireCtED pAth TO tHe Other Teleportation Spell Circle…”

Yup, the Devil saw through it.

But to be fair, there ARE some pretty obvious degrees of difference in the directions of the Teleportation Circles near Giorno, Seki’teigyu, Lylia, and this location.

It’s pretty simple, really – when initializing the transfer, if I want to reappear at the Circle near Giorno, I’d turn in that general direction. Same thing with the Circle near Lylia, and the other ones as well.

“StILl, ThESe aRE QUite DifFIcuLT Spell Circles to makE. ARE yoU ReaLlY jUsT A hUmAn?”

“I’m a monster, actually.”

“WhAT?”

“Just kidding. Just wanted to try saying that- gah?!”

Man, that hurt…

It just punched me out of nowhere! Good thing I put up my guard.

Its physical strength was about on par with Lylia’s, I guess. Even that one defended blow shook me to the core.

If it were to hit me repeatedly, I don’t think my body would be able to hold on for long.

“YOur boDy cAn wiTHSTAnD my attAck… so yOU ARE A Holy Warrior, tHen? thaT WOUlD explaiN yOUR ArcaNe eNERGy – BuT YOu arE sTill noThINg against mY King!”

…Okay, so this power boost isn’t enough to get rid of the Devil King, huh?

I sure as hell hope this isn’t just the Devine Messenger giving me the wrong multipliers!

Man, I really want to go home right about now, and sleep on the warm mattress and Pochi’s belly pillow… But where’s my ‘home’ in this case, anyway?

…Oh, humans, always thinking about unrelated stuff in the face of fear.

Hey, that’s a good one. I’ll write it down.

“…WHat is ThAT?”

“It’s the Principles of a Philosopher.”

“Oh? if tHat BOOk iS iN mY POssESSioN, I WiLL SOLvE ThE MysTErY Of YouR Teleportation speLL cIrCle, ThEn? I musT havE IT…!”

Did I just hear something hit the ground? …Oh, the Devil’s got a tail. And the tip if it is a snake’s head.

Now wait a second… have I even written any mundane stuff like magic recipes in the Principles of a Philosopher before?

Nah, of course not! No trivial thing has a place in my book! After I fulfill my destiny, I’ll hide it away – and someone will find it years later, and be in awe of the awesomeness of its contents! They’ll make copies of it – millions of copies of it – and it’ll sell like hotcakes!

I thought I’d make it a limited print, so that the first edition will fetch a fortune or two… but alas, that isn’t meant to happen.

“MY NaME is Bathym. ThE stRoNgest Devil, ANd CLOse aSSOCiATe of King Lucifer!”

“…!”

Bathym unleashed a huge burst of his arcane energy.

Man, its power is so Devil-like – oh, wait, it IS a Devil.

I better show it my full power as well, especially since it told me the Devil King’s name and all.

“Huu… uuu… HMPH!”

I released my arcane energy, bulking up my body for an all-out fistfight.

“WHAT?! ArEN’T YOU suPPOsED TO be a mage?!”

“I am a man of knowledge and strength! A PHILOSOPHER!”

“ThERe’s No waY in hELl yOu’re A Philosopher! NOt wITH That fooLIsHINEsS!”

Now even a Devil is calling me a fool. Brilliant.

“kaHHHhHh!”

Damn, he’s fast! But not too fast for me to keep up with!

Here it comes! Duck! Neck! Torso! Flip! Shoulder! And next…!

“HEAD PUNCH! Whew… I’m stinging all over! A fistfight with a Devil really is something else!”

“iNtEreSTiNG… VerY IntEresTiNg, YoUNg Man! i FEEL like i’vE gOTTeN tO reLEasE SoME peNT-Up STRESs!”

What…?

Pent-up… so its work environment’s always been stressful, huh…?

Wait – could it be that it’s gonna-

“Hellfire!”

“-! Rise, Gate Eater!”

“you InsTANtlY EraSED my fLames?! tHaT MAGIc… it cerTaINLy REsemBlES A pOWER ThAt we Devilkin poSSEsS…”

Nope, that was my super-duper awesome original spell. I’m quite proud of it.

Wouldn’t blame the Devil for not getting it, though – it just saw me use some weird spell it’s never heard off, after all.

“…HmPh! Chaos Break!”

What’s that spell…?!

I can’t figure it out! Let’s try stopping it for now-!

“Ahhh-rise! Parasitic Control!”

“…wHAt?! yOU InvokEd yOUr SPelL afTER MiNE, YEt iT WAs faST eNoUGh tO takE aWAy my conTROl oVEr MY Circle…?! BE Proud, young mAN! I’Ve alwAYS thoUGHt OnLy my King COuLD dO THAT To Me! …WHaT ArE YOu DOIng?”

“Let’s see… do this to this…? Aha, so going around this formula creates a dark-elemental distortion. This means the formula before it is the self-recognition code…”

“whaT?!”

“Hah-hah! Rise, A-rise, A-raise! Parasitic Edit! Chaos Break!”

“Kuh-!!!!”

Oh, I see… this is PERFECT! It’s kind of like the Gravity Stamp, but it hits from all directions!

So in the end, it’s a compression spell that squashes its target into nothingness. Well, the Devil’s managed to avoid getting hurt, probably because it knows exactly how the spell works… But it should be pretty pissed, right?

“SCuM…! DiE!!!!”

Yup, it’s super pissed.

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